This research article investigates the transformative dialogue between the classical imperatives of Aristotelian poetics and the aesthetic of fragmentation that defines literary Modernism, specifically as manifested in T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land and the broader “Wasteland” milieu. At the centre of this inquiry is the perceived collapse of the Aristotelian mythos—a unified, teleological plot structure—under the weight of modern trauma, and its replacement by a “spatialized” or “mythical” method of composition. The study explores the semantic instability of catharsis, contrasting the classical view of emotional purgation or cognitive clarification with the Modernist experience of “secondary witnessing” and unresolved trauma. By analysing the structural roles of the tragic hero, the three unities, and the formal enactment of trauma, the report argues that Modernism does not merely reject Aristotelian principles but adaptively subverts them to represent a “dissociation of sensibility.” Through a comparative analysis of Eliot’s allusive techniques and Ezra Pound’s ideogrammatic method, the research demonstrates how fragmentation serves as a new, non-linear form of coherence a “reparative” strategy that seeks a spiritual and cultural resolution within the ruins of the Western canon.
Citation record
How to cite this article
Authors: Shankar Kumar Jayvardhan (2025). Catharsis and Fragmentation: Aristotelian Poetics in the Modernist Wasteland. Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal, 2(8), 186–192. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2025v2i800028
Authors: Shankar Kumar Jayvardhan. “Catharsis and Fragmentation: Aristotelian Poetics in the Modernist Wasteland.” Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 2, no. 8, 2025, pp. 186–192. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2025v2i800028
Authors: Shankar Kumar Jayvardhan. “Catharsis and Fragmentation: Aristotelian Poetics in the Modernist Wasteland.” Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal 2, no. 8 (2025): 186–192. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2025v2i800028
Authors: Shankar Kumar Jayvardhan (2025) ‘Catharsis and Fragmentation: Aristotelian Poetics in the Modernist Wasteland’, Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal, 2(8), pp. 186–192. Available at: https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2025v2i800028.
Authors: Shankar Kumar Jayvardhan, “Catharsis and Fragmentation: Aristotelian Poetics in the Modernist Wasteland,” Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 2, no. 8, pp. 186–192, 2025. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2025v2i800028.
Authors: Shankar Kumar Jayvardhan. Catharsis and Fragmentation: Aristotelian Poetics in the Modernist Wasteland. Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal. 2025;2(8):186–192. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2025v2i800028.
Authors: Shankar Kumar Jayvardhan. Catharsis and Fragmentation: Aristotelian Poetics in the Modernist Wasteland. Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal 2025, 2 (8), 186–192. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2025v2i800028.
No separate funding declaration was available in the verified source record; the journal policy applies.
Conflict of Interest
No separate conflict-of-interest declaration was available in the verified source record; the journal policy applies.
Ethical Approval
No separate ethical approval statement was available in the verified source record; the article and journal policies apply.
Data Availability
No separate data-availability statement was available in the verified source record; contact the author(s) or editorial office where appropriate.
Author Contributions
No separate author-contribution statement was available in the verified source record; authorship follows the published article record.
AI-use Declaration
No separate AI-use declaration was available in the verified source record; the journal AI-use policy applies.
Editorial record
Publisher's Note
The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author(s). Publication does not imply endorsement by the journal, editorial board or publisher. Responsibility for accuracy, originality and integrity remains with the author(s). Readers should independently evaluate and verify information before application or citation.
